Why Learn on a Soft Top Surfboard
Many new to surfing start by purchasing a short board and ask Why Learn on a Soft Top Surfboard. The first answer is that the fundamentals are very important to master and the surfboard should not be an issue in learning. The soft top is the greatest assistant to a beginner surfer.
The reason many people don’t respect the assistance of a soft top surfboard is they underestimate the technicalities of surfing and the physicality. I hear both comments most every day of teaching. This is harder than I though it would be and more tiring than I expected. I heard this even from an ocean swimmer.
The Fundamentals Learned on as Soft Top Surfboard
The beginner surfer learns in foam waves because they could get injured going out to real waves and they certainly would get frustrated. The foam wave is not powerful and will not push the surfer under water. It is a nice adequate push to the beach. A soft top surfboard is designed so the volume and lightness of the board will be easily pushed by the foam wave.
The beginner learns to catch the foam wave and the timing of standing up on the surfboard. There are soft top boards for different sized people. For the most part, kids around 50 pounds can learn on a 7′ soft top, kids at 100 pounds can learn on an 8′ soft top and over 105 pounds people should use 9′ soft tops. As soon as someone has mastered the fundamentals and can ride straight to the beach in the right posture, they can step down one foot in board length.
A persons height and weight can have a lot to do with the size of the surfboard. Health care professionals measure people by Body Mass Index and apply a number to normal weight, overweight, obese, and extremely obese. These numbers are 25, 30 and 40. Up to 25 is normal, over twenty five is overweight, over 30 is obese and over 40 is extremely obese. You can check your size with a BMI calculator found here.
The more overweight a child, teen or adult is, the larger the surfboard they need. In this case, they will first have trouble rolling over on the surfboard and balancing. They will need a larger board to catch waves because they probably have not exercised and will have diminished strength. The pop up puts a lot of pressure on the board to sink and they will need high volume to support the pressure of them trying to stand up.
The first fundamental is catching the wave. This requires patience to wait until the wave arrives and is right behind the surfboard. Then the surfer paddles hard until he feels the board take off in the wave. Then he places his hands on the surfboard followed by a push up and the rear foot. He stands on the rear foot raising his hands and moves the other foot to the nose of the surfboard.
This is the basic process from beginner to advanced. Having a forgiving surfboard to accommodate this process makes progress faster. Beginner surfers should practice the pop up in their living room so they develop the muscle and smoothness required. Time in the water will build conditioning. As the surfer gets more fit or develops surf muscles, the process becomes easy and smooth.
Read Other Posts:
Beginner Surfers Learn on Soft Tops
5 Steps to Improve Surfing Performance
3 Ways to Catch Real Surfing Waves
Training to Ride the Surfing Short Board
Short Board Surfing Techniques
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